St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1887-01-01
A PRIMITIVE CIRCUS.
Eeetares Of . UaiQae Perfernaace |
Small Rouaanlan VILLAGE.

During one of the days Of my sta
ut Bogsham, the inn was the scene q
unusual commotion. A greater mum
Der OF people than ordinary filled tn
public rooms. and everybody appeare
TO be in state of excitement. Upol
inquiring the cause I was pointed to
rude placard which hung upon tn
wall of the room. and which IN
nounced. partly in German and partl!
in Hungarian. that . circus would b,
held in the large room Of the inn
Upon the placard were two horses
heads and two hags, which we're sup
posed to represent those of the Unitet
Empire. All sorts of wonderful thing
were promised in the programme. in
Guiding gymnastics, acrobatic feats
horse-riding. ballet-dancing and 81
forth. The prices for admittance were
Front row (and bring your own chair)
80 kreutzers: second row ito sit or
benches). 20 kreutzers; third row (to
stand upl, 10 kreutzers; children, half.
price-performance to begin At 7:SO.
BY seven O'Clock. and before the
remains Of the evening meal were
cleared away. the doors of the inn
were besieged by = crowd of peasants
and boys who had come to see the
show. They peered in through the
window and half-opened door. and
although frequently repulsed BY the
landlord, came again and again. APP
parently much edified BY . sight At the
grand folks in the dining whose
manners of eating and drinking. and
smoking. and talking, appeared to
them quite wonderful
Before the crowd was admitted
went into the large room to see what
preparations had been made for the
circus. Between this and the dining
room was the small apartment pre-
viously mentioned. and in which were
now congregatcd Gypsy family, con-
sisting Of . man and wife and eight
children. the woman holding . babe.
As it turned out afterward tho princi-
numerous family, girl of about thir-
teen years of age and two small boys
aged ten to twelve. The latter were
the clowns, and. although their ex-
treme juvenility did not promise much
amusement. they turned out to be really
very clever. Behind the screen in .
corner of this small room was . rude
bed. in which. was told. the whole
family slept together. Going into the
large room beyond. I found that no
preparations had been made for the
circus. nor, as l afterward learned,
were any needful. the entire properties
consisting Of . pony. . slsck-wire, =
hand organ. few chairs and . couple
of bits of old carpet. At 7:3O o'clock
the doors were opened and . crowd Of
peasants entered the dining-rOom and
passed through the small apartment to
the large room. In the course of five
or ten minutes this was crowded to suf-
location. and when later on the dis
tinguished guests we're admitted. who
were to occupy the front seats. they
had to elbow their way through mass
of some two hundred people.
The performance commenced with
the wonderful pony who trotted about
the boarded floor of the room and stood
on his hind legs and lay down and per-
mitted the Gypsy girl to sit upon him
and fondle him and tease him and do
all manner of things with him. until
she was relieved BY the two clowns.
who went through bit of clever comedy
acting, and for their reward received
largesse from the distinguished guests.
whose hands they kissed when they re-
ceived the money. Then the maiden
again appeared. this time upon the
slack wire, to the slow music of the
hand-organ, and when this was over
there were lofty tumbling feats by the
father and the two boys, who were now
changed from clowns to acrobats.
Then the distinguished guests were
again importuned for largesse, and tho
recipient, who was the mother with the
baby. kissed their hands - the boys
had done, and went back to her place.
which was Ut the door whore the money
was taken for admission. I was Is
much amused in watching the audience
~ the performance. The men were all
clothed in sheepskins. all smoked. all
laughed boisterOusly at the sallies Of
the clowns. and all appeared to enjoy
themselves amazingly. They were .
rough, sturdy lot. and looked down
with good deal of contempt upon tho
women. OF the latter, the only comely
ones were between the ages Of thirteen
and twenty. but many Of them were
thin and haggard. Beyond the age Of
twenty they looked prematurely old
and were weather-beaten and deeply
marked with lines of care. During the
performance one of the men set fire to
his sheep-skin coat with > cigarette.
and this occasioned . good deal Of
commotion. After the fire was ex-
tjneuished order was restored and the
smoking went on IS before, until the
room became 50 foul that one could
scarcely see across it.
The performance wound no with
pantomime, in which the Gypsy girl
and another little girl and the two boys
took part One of the boys is cobblcr;
the Gypsy girl is his wife. The other
boy is . gentleman who comes to be
measured for pair Of shoes. and the
other little girl ID his wife. The gentle
man no sooner enters the cobbler's
stall than he falls in k:e with the
cobbler's wife. The cobbler gets
;ealous. beats his wife and drinks him
self into . state of insensibility. OF
which the gentleman takes advantage
bv pick;ng the cobbler's pocket and
.fonpiuc With his wife. The cobbler
RECEIVERS his senses and revenges him
.alf by making love to the gentlemsn's
wife; whereupon the gentleman returns.
surprises the cobblcr and pitches into
him. In this encounter the c0oOler
rets the upper hands and compels the
rentleman 70 cry out for mercy. and to
explain that the clopement was only